Fish Fry with Flare

Fish, in general, never used to excite me.

In fact, it usually causes panic, especially when I used to buy it at the grocery store. I never knew if the fish--tilapia, sole, halibut, etc.--had come in contact with shelled seafood, my arch-nemesis that has the power to kill me.

So for many years I just avoided the whole fish situation by not eating it at all, unless it was a McFish sandwich during lent.

Then I married a fisherman. Then I stopped eating fast food. Then I became a returning Catholic.

Now I'm eating fish.

Not just any fish, though. I'm eating fish that FD or his dad or his brother caught--mostly crappies, perch or walleye--at Mosquito Creek Reservoir or in Lake Erie near the Canadian border.

Most times I've left it to FD to prepare and cook the fish. That is until Lent started. As one of my Lenten meditations, I've taken up cooking fish.

And, of course, the best recipe I found fries it. Proclaiming to be a huge fan of fried food doesn't do hot oil and batter justice. Literally, I would eat anything fried--pickles, pizza, twinkles, crickets, roaches. That's how much I love fried food. I try not to eat it often, though. As we all know, it's not the healthiest preparation.

FD makes the most healthy of fish recipes: sauteing fillets in curry powder, baking them in parchment paper, etc. And I find this little piece of buttermilk-battered heaven.

Surely God is proud of my Lenten promise to cook fish.

Or more likely the fool who invented Epicurious is definitely going straight to heaven.

FD and I didn't have the time or ingredients for the pickled onions and peppers or the salsa verde--mostly because I refused to buy the ingredients at the grocery when I know I could make it at the end of the summer with all local ingredients, which would taste WAY better--but we made the Baja Cream, I marinated those little fillets in the buttermilk batter and we fried up in an inch of oil for 4 minutes, kept them warm in the oven, and found ourselves absolutely in love with this Mexican fish fry. (Justin Timberlake and Timberland, how come you couldn't sing about this recipe???)

We made a few adjustments, though. Use flour instead of corn tortillas; they hold up better and taste better. (Yes, we used both to make sure.) Add Cayenne Pepper to the flour for a kick; it's awesome.

Seriously, I force myself to eat fish. With this recipe I devoured, easily and happily, four tacos in one seating plus a few sneak bites of leftover fish before FD did the dishes.

It was sick. It was sickly awesome.

(Note: I use the word sick as a good thing. I didn't get sick from this recipe. In fact, it made my tummy very happy.)

~

Ingredients:

Pickled Red Onion and Jalapeños

• 1 red onion (about 12 ounces), halved lengthwise, cut thinly crosswise
• 5 whole small jalapeños
• 2 cups seasoned rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt

Baja cream

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon (packed) finely grated lime peel
• Pinch of salt

Tomatillo Salsa Verde

• 12 ounces tomatillos,* husked, stemmed, divided
• 4 green onions, white and green parts separated
• 1 jalapeño chile
• 2 garlic cloves, unpeeled

• 1 1/4 cups (packed) fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 tablespoon (or more) fresh lime juice

Fish

• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce--Sriracha!!!
• 3 teaspoons coarse kosher salt, divided
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 2 pounds skinless halibut, sea bass, or striped bass fillets, cut into 1/2x1/2-inch strips (or in our case, walleye, perch, crappies!)
  

• 16 flour tortillas
• 1t Cayenne Pepper
  
• 2 cups self-rising flour
• Vegetable oil (for frying)

• Fresh salsa
• Guacamole

Preparation:

For pickled red onion and jalapeños:
Place onion and jalapeños in heatproof medium bowl. Mix vinegar, lime juice, and salt in small saucepan. Bring just to boil, stirring until salt dissolves. Pour over onion and jalapeños. Let stand at room temperature at least 1 hour and up to 8 hours. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

For baja cream:
Whisk all ingredients in small bowl. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

For tomatillo salsa verde:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly oil roasting pan. Char half of tomatillos, white parts of green onions, and jalapeño directly over gas flame or in broiler. Transfer charred vegetables to prepared roasting pan. Add remaining tomatillos and garlic cloves to pan. Roast until all vegetables are soft, about 12 minutes. Cool.

Stem and seed jalapeño. Place all roasted vegetables, green onion tops, cilantro, and 1 tablespoon lime juice in blender. Puree until smooth, stopping to push vegetables down into blades several times. Transfer to medium bowl. Season with salt and more lime juice, if desired.

For fish:
Mix buttermilk, cilantro, pepper sauce, 1 teaspoon salt, and lime juice in large bowl. Add fish; toss. Cover; chill at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 300°F. Wrap tortillas in foil; place in oven to warm. Whisk flour and remaining 2 teaspoons salt in medium bowl. Add enough oil to large skillet to reach depth of 1 inch. Heat oil until thermometer registers 350°F. Working in batches, remove fish from marinade and dredge in flour. Carefully add fish to skillet, cover partially, and fry until golden brown, turning occasionally, about 4 minutes. Transfer to paper-towel-lined baking sheet to drain, then transfer to oven to keep warm.

Set up buffet with all taco fixings, along with fresh salsa and guacamole.

*Green and tomato-like with a papery husk, tomatillos are available in the produce section of some supermarkets and Latin markets.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Fish-Taco-Platter-233703#ixzz0gsEL89K